So I leave the top off all summer, blew my Blaupunkt - replaced it with a Pioneer. The Pioneer is rated at 14 RMS - probably should have checked that, but I know jack about stereos and a friend installed it for free. On sale for $40 at Best Buy when I got it.

Anyway, it's a 2000 TJ. With the top off, the front speakers are a joke anyway - so I yanked them a while back because the factory ones busted out from water I guess.

Now the stupid question - it's a Pioneer DEH-3400UB. If I use the fader controls to direct all of the power to the infinity speakers I put in the rollbar, will it direct more "RMS" power to just those speakers - hopefully to 28? I can NOT rewire, so I'd just be using the "settings" on the unit.

As of now, it's just embarrassing. If I turn up the volume, I get nothing but the Rice Krispies elves when I'm just playing AC/DC, much less anything else. Crackle, pop, crackle, totally sucks. Of course, it stops doing that at very low volume.

I don't care about "hifi" - it's a freakin' Jeep. I just want to be able to HEAR my music without the slightest hint of bass causing the speakers to crackle and pop. (Checked the speakers - they appear to be in good shape.)

I could buy another head unit - highest I saw was 22 RMS. Absolutely NO idea why the Blau sounded awesome and this Pioneer sounds like crapple pop.

But a guy who "knows" car audio told me I likely need a new head unit - if I can't get this stupid POS to redirect the power to the rollbar? I'm hoping I can just do that - there's something in the instructions about forcing it to "two channel" - but no clue if that setup requires an amp, which is out of the question if it does.

I suspect this POS stereo, just like the Blau, will fry in a couple of years. At least it connects to my iPhone. But 14 RMS? Geezus... I think my first 80s boombox had more power than that.

Hoping I don't have to junk this Pioneer - but will do if I can't "program" the stupid thing to send more "RMS" to the rear speakers. Thanks for any advice.

Fwiw a headunit can be rated for 1billion watts and generally only put out 5-10 clean, the rest will be distortion. Watts is just a measurement of juice it puts out, doesnt mean its useable sound at the end. And sound quality out of even good decks is pretty sucky anyway. 90% of the reason to use an amp even if it has the same rating as the deck, youll get better sound at the same volume levels.

First question is what type of speakers are in your roll bar now? You said Infinity, but what size? 5.25"? 6.5"? Model #? Also, how old are they? If you are getting a lot of buzzing or distortion from a speaker it could be that the speaker is blown.

I have a Pioneer DEH-33HD head unit, and previously used a DEH-2200UB, I have not have any serious issues with the volume or sound quality of either of those. They are also both rated at the same power output as your unit. There are a couple things you could try, without swapping the HU or adding an amp.

First, I would recommend putting at least a cheap set of speakers back in the dash. You are currently missing 50% of the power output that your stereo could be putting out as it is right now. The factory dash speakers were 4x6" oval, but you'll need an adapter to make aftermarket 4x6's mount properly anyway, with the right adapter you could mount a pair of 5.25" rounds instead.

The factory speakers in the soundbar were 5.25", those can be replaced by most any 6.5" instead. If your Infinity speakers are 5.25", move them to the dash and put a pair of 6.5" rounds in the soundbar. If the Infinitys are 6.5", just get a set of 5.25" for the dash. Pretty much any set of 5.25" or 6.5" speakers should be able to handle the 14watts RMS coming from the stereo; the benefit of larger speakers, though, is that they should be able to produce a clearer sound at higher power levels.

You don't have to spend a lot on speakers, I currently run Pioneer TS-G1344R 5.25" in the dash and TS-G1644R 6.5" in the soundbar. I got both sets on Amazon for like $20 each and free shipping. I am very pleased with the sound quality I get from these, though I always have my hardtop on and don't crank the volume up too much. However, I do have to turn the volume up to an uncomfortable level before I get noticeable distortion.

The second thing I would highly recommend, particularly if you are trying to get more volume and you are running with the top off, is adjust your equalizer settings. I would guess that your Infinity speakers are standard 2-way coaxial, which work for producing mid-to-high tones, but usually don't make a lot of bass. The only thing that is going to do that would be a powered subwoofer. So, if you have a high bass setting, the speakers are going to have a hard time producing it. With the top off, the bass is going to be the first thing drowned out. So with the bass set high and the volume cranked up, the speakers are overworking trying to produce sound you will not be able to hear. Turn the bass down, and when you turn the volume up you should get clearer sound without distortion.

Hey Indy - thanks. Well, that sucks. I really don't want to be running any amps. I though the "RMS" was the rating for "clean sound" - they pretty much all have a max of 50x4, which I know is bogus.

Root Mean Squared. Its the amount of "power" an amp can put out or a speaker can handle continuously. Vs max which is well, the most power an amp produces or a speaker can handle. Not actual numbers here but you can run 10x the max rating to a speaker as lng as its clean and the speaker will be fine. But 1/10th the rating of pure distortion and it will blow. Cranking the volume on a deck ends up sending garbage and will kill the speakers.

And appropriate signal needs to be sent as well. Throw some amp'd bass at a tweeter and its toast in pretty short order. It doesnt take much to kill some 5 or 6 inch speakers. Even though everyone wants a ton of bass from their 6x9s, its not going to happen. Trying for it will just kill them.

I believe it is Alpine that you can buy a "power pack" type deal for. It boost the HU rms to around 40-50. I haven't used one myself but have heard they work decently.. You can look into mini or nano amps also. Some 4 channels are as big as a pack of cigs.